Security

It seems like high-profile Twitter accounts have been under siege in recent days. The newest victim: 'hacktivist' group Anonymous. Anonymous has made headlines over the past few years for a series of attacks on major businesses and government sites. ... The group -- which has no formal structure and is made up of individuals largely acting independently -- practices what's known as 'hacktivism,' or politically-charged hacking. Although Anonymous doesn't have an official spokesman, members do issue public statements through a series of social media accounts, including @Anon_Central on Twitter. ... (view more)

Adobe has issued a fix for what it is calling a top-priority security flaw. The bug could allow hackers to seize control of affected machines. The update fixes problems with Adobe Reader, the software used to open and view PDF documents. It also ... affects Adobe Acrobat, the software used to create PDF files. Although Acrobat is not as popular as Reader, many people will be running at least one of the two programs. The flaws involve memory corruption and buffer flow vulnerabilities which could allow a hacker to force a computer to crash. It's a tactic that's more likely to be targeted at ... (view more)

Fast food restaurant Burger King has had its Twitter account hacked and defaced by hacktivist group LulzSec. The organization, which has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile hacks in the past few years, posted false information to the ... Burger King Twitter page. According to reports, around noon Eastern Time on Monday, February 18, 2013, the @BurgerKing account name was changed to "McDonalds," while the familiar McDonald's logo was splashed across the screen. In addition, LulzSec added false information indicating that Burger King had been purchased by its primary fast food rival ... (view more)

A security firm claims a Chinese military unit is responsible for mass-scale hacking targeting the United States and other Western powers. Mandiant says the Chinese government is not only aware of the hacking but may even be funding it. ... Virginia-based Mandiant says the hacking group is known online as both the "Comment Crew" and the "Shanghai Group". Mandiant says that this group is a unit within the People's Liberation Army of China. Mandiant suggests that a 12-story building in Shanghai is the hacking unit's headquarters. (Source: nytimes.com ) Secret Document Points to ... (view more)

Facebook has confirmed it was attacked by someone using a particularly sophisticated hacking technique. It says it doesn't appear the hackers were able to access any user data, but the site says it is taking the issue very seriously. The hackers ... didn't use the direct approach favored by many would-be attackers who either try to simply access a website's public servers, or send bogus emails to staff in the hope of tricking them into opening infected attachments. Hackers Lay Trap for Developers Instead, the hackers breached security at an external website used by developers of mobile ... (view more)

Europol has arrested 11 people for allegedly posing as the same police organization that has now picked them up. The alleged scammers are said to have posed as Europol in an attempt to trick people into handing over money. Europol is a police agency ... that operates across national borders. The scam is known as ransomware, which involves spreading malicious software and demanding victims pay a fee to have that software removed. The most common version of the scam involves making false claims that files will be deleted from the computer unless the user pays up. Victims 'Fined' For Illegal Content ... (view more)

The Bush family's email accounts have reportedly been hacked. Lost in the security breach: correspondence records, phone numbers, addresses, and photographs. The Smoking Gun website reports that a hacker calling themselves 'Guccifer' was able to ... infiltrate the Bush family email accounts and steal recent personal documents, including a photograph of George H.W. Bush, taken before he was released from a Texas hospital in January 2013. The image shows Bush in a hospital bed where he was recovering from a number of ailments, including bronchitis. Another photo showed the former Republican ... (view more)

Adobe is insisting that Mac and Windows users immediately update its Flash Player software. The company says it has just issued a new update designed to prevent hackers from exploiting two recently-discovered bugs. Adobe Flash is a multimedia and ... software platform often used by web browsers to display video, animations, and interactive games. Exploited Flaw Results in Crash By exploiting the bugs, hackers are causing serious problems. Reports indicate that it's possible for hackers to create websites that would trigger the bug and cause a user's computer to crash. That's a problem for ... (view more)

An estimated 40,000 businesses and organizations could find themselves legally bound to report any cyber security breaches they've suffered. The idea is to share information about cyber threats and increase the chances of catching hackers. The rules ... have been proposed by the European Union and would affect organizations across that continent. Companies from the United States and other countries that operate in Europe might also be covered by the rules. (Source: europa.eu ) The firms involved include banks, power companies, and medical facilities. The European Union has determined that a ... (view more)

The President of the United States has the right to authorize an online attack on another nation if he has credible evidence to suggest that country plans to attack the US. That's the conclusion of a secret review of rules governing the US ... military's online behavior. Officials are said to be planning the first comprehensive set of guidelines for the military's online activities, though the rules themselves will be classified. The review was prompted by concerns over the current division between the military and intelligence services. For example, the armed forces are only allowed to launch ... (view more)